Tech bounty to outstrip negative cyber-effects
The international ransomware attack this month that ensnared more than 150 countries — including Australia — brings to mind an intriguing question: can we afford to openly embrace digitalisation? Anthony Wong prefers to approach the conundrum from the opposite direction: can we afford not to? As president of the Australian Computer Society, Mr Wong is constantly told of the risks of digitalisation: robots replacing workers, disrupters pushing industries to extinction and personal data shipped off to the highest bidder. While he doesn’t discredit those fears, he reckons such concerns are outweighed by the opportunity to find solutions, adopt new skills and create fresh industries. “Artificial intelligence, robo advice, driverless cars, […]
KPMG sees robots taking over tax compliance
When 800 executives were surveyed for a World Economic Forum report published in September 2015, three-quarters said company audits would be performed by artificial intelligence by 2021. A similar proportion reckoned the world would have witnessed the first tax collected via blockchain within that timeframe, while 45 per cent said robots would be occupying places at the board room table. Clearly, the tax profession is ripe for digital disruption. In a new briefing paper, KPMG envisages a world where much tax compliance work is done by machines, leaving humans to pick up the more complex tasks. While computers will do the heavy lifting on the number crunching front, tasks requiring […]
Stake lifts the bar for trading US stocks and ETFs
It was during a three-year stint in Chicago, working for market maker Optiver, that Matt Leibowitz realised Australians were getting gouged buying international equities through the brokerages owned by the big banks and the customer experience was woeful. “During my years in the US I was amazed at the breadth of product offered to US investors at a compelling price,” said Mr Leibowitz, who was a lawyer at Allens before joining Optiver in 2007. “I was shocked at the breadth and costs in Australia: we paid more and got less.” Returning to Australia four years ago, Mr Leibowitz started to sense an opportunity to start a fintech that would provide […]
Don’t write off bitcoin yet, despite blow to Winklevoss plan
It seems that bitcoin’s prophets of doom celebrated prematurely after the US Securities and Exchange Commission comprehensively knocked back the Winklevoss brothers’ bid to create an exchange-traded fund tied to the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The obituaries written over the weekend made much of Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss’s feud with Mark Zuckerberg over founder’s rights to Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking website. “They lost on Facebook; now they’ve lost on bitcoin,” the twins’ updated narrative said. Not so fast. Sure, the bitcoin price collapsed by 18 per cent after it had motored past the price for an ounce of gold in the week preceding the SEC’s […]
Prospa secures $25M in funding led by AirTree Ventures; Passes $250 Million in Loans to Small Business
Prospa, Australia’s leading online lender to small business, has secured $25M in growth funding led by AirTree Ventures – Australia’s most successful tech-focused venture capital firm. The deal is the largest fintech venture capital investment in an Australian business. Prospa also announced it had passed $250 Million in total loans to small businesses in Australia. The investment comes after a period of significant growth for Prospa who is now the clear market leader for online lending to small businesses in Australia. Prospa will use the funds to accelerate its market leadership: boosting technology, product expansion and distribution, ramping up talent acquisition and building a world-class brand. Greg Moshal, Founder and […]
Prospa reaches $200 million milestone
Australian leading fintech, Prospa, announced the company has hit $200 million in loan originations – cementing itself as the leading force in Australia’s non-bank finance sector. The milestone announcement coincides with the company securing additional capital from a large local institutional funder for its latest financing round, taking total capital raised to over $100 million. Beau Bertoli, Joint CEO of Prospa, said the additional $50 million debt capital raising is part of Prospa’s strategy to scale operations. “This is a significant milestone for our business. It means we can meet increasing demand from small businesses for fast, easy access to finance. And it means we can continue […]
Adelaide Fintech solution disrupts Invoicing
Adoption of cloud software has gained acceptance and is increasing dramatically. Over 600,000 Australian businesses currently use cloud accounting solutions. And yet, when they send an invoice they need to print and post it, or PDF and email it. This is because cloud accounting systems do not talk directly to other cloud accounting systems. An Adelaide Fintech company has worked to address this problem with a solution called Link4. Link4 delivers your invoice instantly to your customer. It creates a secure Link that allows cloud accounting systems to be connected. This includes popular systems like Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks, Reckon and SageOne. No matter which cloud software a supplier uses, Link4 […]
